A Horse With No Name
by Emily Blake
Summary: Sam and Dean investigate a girl's mysterious disappearance at a lake in Massachusetts, and soon they find out they're dealing with a monster they've never faced before. With the help of a new ally, the brothers must find a way to stop the creature before it can claim its next victim. Some OC spotlighting but no romance.
1. A Horse of a Different Color

**A/N:** Just to establish, this story is set somewhere in mid-season 8, around episode 8x13. It's after the Men of Letters element was introduced and before the Three Trials subplot picked up. But I'm not planning on incorporating any of the main storylines anyway, so there shouldn't be much confusion. Enjoy!

* * *

**CHAPTER I**

**A Horse of a Different Color  
**

**-Savoy Mountain State Forest, Massachusetts-**

"What the hell does aperture mean, anyway?"

Kayley shrugged, sidestepping yet another clump of poison ivy. "Doesn't it have something to do with like, exposure or something?"

Morgan groaned, flipping over the sophisticated camera hanging from her neck. "I thought that was the shutter thingy!"

"You're the one who wanted to take this class," Kayley reminded her friend, grinning. "Oh wait, I forgot. You're only interested in photography because Brady Sloane is the T.A."

"Shut up!" Morgan squeaked, shoving her friend. The girls giggled, their hiking boots crunching softly along the dirt path. They were alone on this stretch of the trail and hadn't passed another person in nearly half an hour.

The girls continued along their way, stopping periodically to snap pictures of flowers, birds and anything they thought had a remote chance of getting them an A on their assignment.

A flash to the left caught Morgan's eye. When she looked, she saw the familiar glint of sunlight on water not far off.

She elbowed Kayley, who was occupied with zooming in on a yellow daisy growing between two moss-speckled rocks.

"I think there's a lake down there," she said, pointing. "We can get some artistic shots of reeds, or something."

Kayley followed her friend's gaze. "I don't know if we should leave the trail…"

Morgan rolled her eyes and grabbed her friend's arm. "C'mon, it's like fifty feet that way."

Kayley reluctantly followed as Morgan tramped through the underbrush, keeping a sharp eye out for snakes and pricker bushes. There was indeed a small lake at the bottom of a gentle slope. The water level was low enough that a silt stretch of beach about twenty feet wide ringed the lake on all sides.

"HELLOOOO!" Morgan shouted. Her voiced echoed across the expanse of water. She laughed.

Kayley shook her head, lifting her camera to her eye as she stepped away from her friend. She picked a spot off to her right, where a low-hanging branch dipped into the water like a graceful hand testing the warmth of a bath. As she twisted the lens, the spot came into sharper focus. Almost… there. Perfect. She clicked the button, then held up the viewer to see her handiwork.

Kayley turned back to Morgan, her eyes still on the photo she just shot. "Hey Morgan, check this out." She looked up and yelped.

A tar-black horse stood by the lake's edge about an arm's length away from Morgan, its inky eyes regarding the girls placidly. Water dripped steadily from its ropy mane and tail, and its hide seemed to have a waxy green sheen to it. The animal wasn't outfitted with any tack, not even a halter.

Morgan raised her hands calmly. "Shhh, don't spook him," she whispered.

"Where did it come from?" Kayley asked, something unpleasant twinging in the pit of her stomach.

"I don't know, he was just there when I turned around," Morgan answered, taking a tentative step toward the horse. The creature didn't shy away from her. It didn't seem to move at all.

"Morgan, wait," Kayley pleaded.

But her friend wasn't listening. "Hey, handsome," she said in a soft singsong voice. "Where did you come from? You get out of your corral or something? Did you lose your rider?"

The horse didn't react when Morgan placed a hand on its velvety nose or when she began gently stroking its forelock.

"You're all wet," she cooed. "You go for a swim?"

The horse's eyes were darker than moonless midnight, pools of darkness that seemed to draw Morgan in. Without a sound, the creature lowered itself onto its knees. As if in a trance, Morgan stepped forward, lifted her leg over and settled onto the horse's back.

"_Morgan_!" Kayley gasped, aghast at her friend's brazen behavior. "What are you doing, you can't ride a horse that isn't yours!"

"Relax, Kayley," Morgan mumbled, like someone sleep-talking. "I've ridden bareback before. It's no big deal."

The horse stood and began slowly plodding down the beach past Kayley.

"Get down!" she begged. "Please, Morgan!"

But her friend wasn't listening. And the horse was picking up the pace. Walking became trotting. Trotting became cantering.

"Morgan!" Kayley called, dropping her camera in the dirt and running after her friend. "Morgan, stop!"

Water sprayed in pearly droplets as the horse loped into the lake. The creature continued away from the beach, the water slowly rising. Before long it was up to Morgan's ankles.

The feel of cold water biting at her skin seemed to break whatever was holding Morgan. She looked back toward the shore, where her friend was desperately trying to catch up.

"Kayley?" she yelled shrilly. "Kayley, help!"

Kayley jumped into the water, but the horse was outdistancing her. "Jump off!" she bellowed, wading in as fast as she could. "Just let go and swim!"

The water was up to Morgan's collarbone by then. She struggled, but something was inexplicably keeping her knees clamped to the horse's side, as if she had been glued to its skin.

"KAYLEY, I'M STUCK!" she shrieked, panic taking over. The water climbed up to her neck.

Kayley battled through the water, choking back tears as she frantically swam in deeper and deeper. "Morgan!" she cried.

Morgan's incoherent scream was cut off as her head disappeared beneath the surface.

Kayley stopped splashing. The water was still, as if nothing had happened. Not a bubble, not a ripple marred the surface. Nothing. No sign of the horse or the friend it had carried away.

Kayley's sobs reverberated hollowly across the now-silent lake.

"MORGAN!"

The only reply was a lonely echo.


	2. Call of Duty

**CHAPTER II**

**Call of Duty**

**-Yellow Springs, Ohio-**

Sam leaned against the Impala, the sun-heated metal warm on his back. He watched the park across the street from the gas station where they were parked. A man and a little boy walking a big white dog. A young woman pushing a green stroller. Kids playing in the grass.

Peace and quiet. His favorite. If it wasn't in the cards for him or even anyone he knew or loved, it was still nice to know some people got to enjoy it.

"Just got a call from Garth." Dean walked up to his brother, tossing him an apple and a protein bar. "Thinks he has a case for us in Massachusetts."

Sam caught the food, peeled the sticker off the apple and took a bite. Not bad for gas station fruit.

"What's up?" he asked through a juicy mouthful.

"Girl disappears in a lake. Police are calling it a drowning, but they dragged the bottom of the lake and found no trace of a body or anything big enough to pull her down."

Sam walked to the passenger's side of the car. "Any chance she did just drown?"

Dean opened his door and tossed his bag of snacks into the back seat. "If she did, something helped her. Garth says she was the co-captain of her high school's diving team."

"Any witnesses?" Sam asked.

The brothers got in the car and shut the doors. Sam took another bite of his apple.

"That's where it gets interesting," Dean said. "Apparently there was another girl there, the victim's friend. But get this: She says one second they were standing by the lake, and the next thing her friend is just gone."

Sam frowned. "Huh. Okay. So… what, we're thinking another Lake Manitoc maybe? Ghost in the water type deal?"

"Only one way to find out."

The Impala's engine roared into life, a guttural rumble like that of a beast that had caught a scent.


End file.
